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archetTitle: Angels Ain’t Easy
Author: Archet
Pairing: OMC Jody McKinnon/Matt Hawkes
Fandom: High Mountain Rangers
Summary: a story of falling in love, figuring things out and just holding on.
Disclaimer: I did not create the High Mountain Ranger character/s, only this fic and the Original Male Character, Jody McKinnon, and any other original characters in supporting roles. No copyright infringement is intended.
Notes: this fic is set in 1989, approximately a year and a half after the events of the final episode of High Mountain Rangers. There will be no acknowledgment of the events of the spin-off show Jesse Hawkes.
Note: this fic takes place a little over four months after Bad Luck, Bad Guys and High Mountain Rangers and is a sequel to that fic, so reading that first is recommended.
Additional: this fic will depict same sex relationships. If this ain’t your thing, venture no further.
Warnings this chapter: none
Summary this chapter: A rain filled night brings worry, and unexpected meetings.
****Additional notes at end of chapter****
~*~
Chapter 10: A Dark and Rainy Night
Jody bolted upright in bed, heart hammering. He stilled, listening, alert for the creak of a floorboard, or the rasp of an indrawn breath, but heard only the steady strumming of the rain on the roof. He was alone, and it was somewhere in the middle of the night.
Rubbing the back of his neck Jody drew in a calming breath, exhaled it, and shook his head. His nerves were buzzing, an angry bee hum setting his teeth on edge. He hadn’t slept particularly well since he’d left Matt’s bed three days prior, and since then he’d chalked it up to being in an unfamiliar place, an unfamiliar bed. His newly rented cabin was only a couple minutes’ drive from Matt’s place, a lucky find, and when the rental company had offered it, Jody had snapped it up without hesitation.
He’d booked the two-bedroom, two-bath cabin for three months, the longest period of time the rental company would allow at one time. He didn’t really care for the cabin itself, though. It was too new, too trendy with a skylight in the kitchen and a television in each bedroom. It was too much space for what he needed, and he much preferred Matt’s cozy, sunlit, rustic little cabin tucked away in its stand of evergreens and mountain laurels.
Rubbing a hand over his face, Jody looked to the window next to his bed. It was a dark, lightless night, and the blackness seemed to press against the window panes. The skies were hidden behind heavy cloud cover that had lain over the Sierras for days, and that had dumped a wealth of precipitation on Bear Valley and the surrounding Tahoe area. Lying back down with a sigh, Jody punched his pillow, turned onto his side, and listened to the rain coming down.
It’d been raining for three days straight.
It’d been three days since his and Matt’s marathon date had finally concluded, where they’d never actually had gone out, but stayed, blissfully, holed up in Matt’s cabin. It’d been three days since he’d seen his boy, since he’d touched him, tasted him, and Jody was in a mood. Matt had pulled a twenty-four hour shift at the station, but a spat of emergencies resulting from the weather had necessitated him staying on. The entire region was under flash flood warnings.
Blinking into the darkness, Jody’s gaze turned inward, and he took himself back to Matt’s cabin, to the morning where he’d stood with Matt on his back porch, a steaming cup of coffee in one hand as Matt had leaned against his side with one of his own. The view from there had been a beautiful discovery, and upon first seeing it, had been left Jody speechless for a time. A break in the tree line had afforded a generous view straight down the side of the mountain, and into the valley below, a sweeping vista dazzling in the golden morning sunlight. The shimmer of Lake Tahoe had lain as an inviting blue glitter in the far distance.
Matt had eagerly pointed out some of his favorite landmarks. There was the topmost line of Crow Creek Canyon, its rugged crest cropping up through the trees, and the high cliffs Matt called the Boulders. He’d traced out for Jody the sloping lines of the thickly wooded Grizzly Bowl, and the much steeper Snow Valley, where Matt’s favorite ski run, the Spy Glass, could be found. Backing it all in the golden haze of morning were the varied peaks of the Sierra Nevada Mountains thrusting up against the smooth, blue sky, and Matt’s proud smile at sharing his home had been endlessly charming.
Now, lying in bed alone, Jody considered that this was going to be a very real aspect of his and Matt’s relationship, the waiting. Of course, he’d his own affairs to deal with, and he’d spent most of the last three days choosing a place to live and getting moved in. The moving had been easy; he didn’t have anything with him but his duffel, packed with a few clothes. Anything else he owned was boxed up at his sister’s place, and he’d never been one to collect much in the way of material things.
Having settled on the rental, his next task had been shopping to stock it, getting all the needed groceries and household items, and so he’d been fairly occupied over the last couple of sodden days. Eventually, though, he’d have to find something to do other than wait around for Matt to have free time. There was a wealth of opportunities in the bustling Bear Valley community, or even the nearby South Lake Tahoe District, but the idea of working for someone, or being under some else’s direct authority again, honestly didn’t sit well.
Anyway, Jody had the luxury of taking his time. He’d poured most of his military pay over the last several years into several diversified investments that had worked out well for his portfolio. He didn’t have to worry overmuch about money, at least for the time being, as long as he didn’t go crazy. He considered his new Silverado a splurge, but a practical one.
Rubbing absently at his breastbone, at the tightness settled there, Jody wished that Bear Valley had an all-night gym. He’d love to work off some of the discordant energy in his body at a weight machine. Rolling back over, he stretched out, closed his eyes and concentrated on his breathing. He’d used the calming exercise countless times to get to sleep, but after a minute or two, gave up. It wasn’t going to work, not with the tense, buzzing tension harassing him.
Sighing, Jody pushed back the sheets and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. He stood, stretched, and headed to the bathroom adjoining the master bedroom. After taking a piss and washing his hands, he wandered into the kitchen. He frowned up at the skylight, at the rain beating against the laminated glass. It was pelting down even harder now, than when he’d climbed into bed. Pulling open the refrigerator, blinking against the glare of the inside light, he leaned an arm against the door and considered his options.
He was tempted to go down to the station, see how things were going, but all nonemergency vehicles had been ordered to stay off the roadways. Some of the rougher, less maintained mountain roads had sections washed out, and though the town of Bear Valley had so far escaped any real flooding, the various mountain streams winding near and around many of its main roads had transformed into swollen, swiftly moving white water. Encouragingly, according to the weather channel, the rain was supposed to slack off by morning, and the system was predicted to clear out the following day.
Glancing at the wall clock over the kitchen door, Jody was surprised to see that it was only half past eleven. He’d spoken to Matt earlier in the night, around five, and things on his end had been hectic, but not too bad. The rangers had received a few calls about some stranded hikers, but they’d had been able to pick them up with the chopper, taking advantage of a momentary break in the weather, before the visibility had dropped. Jody didn’t think they’d attempt to fly again tonight, no matter what the emergency, and he hoped that Matt and his crew could stay tucked away in the safety at the station until morning.
Reaching into the fridge, Jody pulled out a carton of milk, unfolded its spout, and was about to lift it to his lips when a knock at the front door stalled him.
The hell?
Sitting the carton back on the shelf, Jody shut the refrigerator and headed through the kitchen and the connected living room. He paused before the front door, unlocking it and flipping on the outside light. Dressed in only his boxers, Jody paused, but didn’t feel like going all the way back to the bedroom to don a robe, so with a shrug he pulled open the door and looked out.
A man stood on covered front stoop, just off the welcome mat. At the sound of the door opening, he turned to face Jody. The visitor stood wore a blue hooded poncho that reached past his knees. He pushed back the poncho’s hood revealing a handsome face, on the young side, probably in his mid-twenties. Despite his hood, his dark hair lay plastered against his skull, rainwater dripping from the ends. His bright blue eyes fixed on Jody as he nodded in greeting. He had a well defined jaw line, sharp cheekbones and full lips, a nice looking kid whose expression was entirely too serious for Jody’s liking.
“Jody?” As he spoke the poncho the kid wore parted down the front to reveal a familiar pair of charcoal grey pants, and a red, long sleeved shirt. Matt had a uniform just like it. Jody remembered it well.
This was one of Matt’s rangers, Jody realized, and he struggled to place the guy’s name.
“Yes?” Jody answered, and the buzzing inside him seemed to strengthen, a vibration of anxious energy thrumming in him as loudly as the rain hissing against the roof.
“I’m Jim Cutler. I work with Matt. Sorry to interrupt your night. We tried calling, but it wouldn’t go through. Some of the lines are probably out someplace.”
“Anything wrong?”
Jody gripped the door knob tightly. He chided himself; he should’ve thought to keep a check on the phones. Jim’s mouth flattened out, and Jody gritted his teeth.
“I was patrolling nearby, and since we couldn’t get through to you on the phone, thought I’d stop by.”
“Come on in,” Jody said, not bothering to ask how Jim knew where he lived. Pulling the door open fully, he stepped back.
Jim shook his head, a brow rising at the state of Jody’s undress.
“Thanks, but I don’t want to get water all over your floor.” He took a breath. “Look, let me fill you in. We got a call a couple hours ago that some campers coming down from Silver Valley got into some trouble. You know where Silver Valley is?”
Jody nodded. Silver Valley had long been a popular campground. Jody had spent time there himself as a teen, camping out with friends anytime he’d needed to get out of the house and away from his bickering parents. Jim shifted his weight from one foot to the other, and Jody felt the buzzing inside him intensify.
“I guess they’d stuck it out as long as they could at the campground, and decided it was time to pack it in. They tried coming down by Eagle Gulch, and drove right off into a washout. Matt took a team out there to bring them in.”
Jim paused, and Jody focused, getting a grip on the overwhelming urge to shake the rest of the information out of the kid.
“We got a report that they’d gotten everyone out of the vehicle and back up on the roadway, except one guy. Matt was in the middle of extracting him, when the whole hillside gave way. Matt managed to haul them far enough clear that they weren’t carried away in the slide, but they both got smacked around pretty good.”
Jody went cold, and the discordant note that had clamored inside him all night seemed to reach a crescendo, drowning out Jim’s voice for a moment until he got hold of himself.
“Is everyone okay? Is Matt--” He bit off the question.
Jim’s expression remained calm, focused, and Jody recognized good training when he saw it.
“They’re on their way back down now. Radio reception has been for shit, but I can tell you they’re okay, but Matt is going to need to be checked out at the hospital tonight. He may have a concussion.”
Jody leaned a hand against the doorframe. He exhaled, and let the warning hum inside him sink down into the pit of his stomach.
“Okay,” he managed, suddenly feeling weird standing in the doorway of his rented cabin in nothing but his underwear.
“We thought you’d like to know,” Jim said in a careful tone that told Jody his relief was written large across his face.
Jody nodded, catching Jim’s gaze. “Thanks, man. I really appreciate it.”
Jim took a step back, glanced over his shoulder to his truck parked a short distance away, the red and blue lights on its roof a startling, strobing spangle of brilliance in the rain soaked darkness.
“Look, you shouldn’t be out driving around in this, but you’re welcome to come back to the station with me. I’m headed back in now.”
Jody nodded briskly, already taking a step back from the door. “I absolutely would. Give me a couple minutes to get dressed.”
It took Jody less than a couple minutes to pull on a sweater and jeans and stuff his feet into his boots. He grabbed his wallet, keys and leather jacket on the way out the door. Jim hovered at the top of the short set of steps leading down to the sodden lawn, eager to be off but giving Jody time to lock up. They stepped off the stoop together, going down the steps and jogging through standing water to Jim’s waiting vehicle.
Pulling open the truck’s door, Jody climbed in and slammed it shut, wiping rainwater from his face as Jim got settled behind the wheel. They both snapped their seatbelts closed, and Jim carefully backed out of the driveway and maneuvered them out onto the paved road, which looked more like a sheet of water than an actual roadway in the Chevy’s headlight beams.
It was slow going, and with Jim’s attention fixed upon the road in front of them, Jody’s thoughts went to Matt. He wondered what shape he was in as he led his group down the mountain in the deluge. Jody rested his hands on his knees and curled his fingers into the wet denim.
“Matt’s pretty stubborn, you know,” Jim said into the silence. From his tone, for an instant, Jody wasn’t certain if he was being asked his opinion, or if Jim was just stating his own.
“Is he?” Jody replied, pulling his focus out of distracted, dark imaginings of blonde hair streaked with mud and blood.
“Oh, yeah,” Jim answered. He laughed shortly. “You mean you didn’t already know?”
Jody glanced aside at the ranger, unsure if whether or not he should feel irritated.
“Well, he’s been pretty easy to get along with from what I’ve seen.”
Jim may have choked slightly, or coughed, it was hard to tell with the rain drumming against the roof of the truck. It was a few moments before he spoke again.
“Hey, I just meant he’s going to put off going to the hospital until the last conceivable moment. With all this going on, he’s going to want to stick around as long as he’s able.”
Jody shrugged. “He’ll go.”
Glancing at Jody, Jim shook his head. “Oh, he’ll go, he’ll just be as annoying as possible.”
“I think I can handle it,” Jody replied.
Jim’s brow ticked up. “If you say so.”
Content to let the conversation lull, Jody stared out the rain swept windshield. The wipers were on high speed, swinging back and forth in a valiant attempt to keep the glass clear. The relatively short drive to the station felt inordinately long.
“Look, I really appreciate you coming out. I know you didn’t have to do that,” Jody offered at length, feeling like it needed to be said.
At the wheel, Jim glanced aside, shrugged, and turned his attention back to the road. “Like I said, I was in the area.”
Neither man spoke again until Jim pulled them into the station’s parking area.
The interior of the station was ablaze with light, and humming with activity. Several of the rangers’ vehicles were parked out front, along with a couple Bear Valley PD cop cars, and two ambulances. Jody’s eyes fixed upon the ambulances, the heavy buzz in his belly flaring up again.
“We’re the staging area for the local PD,” Jim explained as he shut off the truck and pulled up his poncho’s hood. “We’re not likely to flood here, so we’re serving as a nexus for Bear Valley and South Lake Tahoe, just helping coordinate things.”
Jody nodded, feeling a little better at knowing that all the activity was a planned thing, and not assembled just in anticipation of Matt and his team’s arrival. In his estimation, Jim hadn’t seemed to be holding back any information about Matt’s injuries, but it wouldn’t be out of the question. Jody wouldn’t be satisfied until he saw Matt with his own eyes.
They both slid out of the Blazer and raced to the station. Jody was mostly soaked by the time they pounded up the front steps to the double door entrance. Jim gave him a nod as he shucked off his poncho, throwing it over the wooden railing of the veranda that ran down the length of the building. With a quick nod, Jim turned and disappeared through the double doors.
Jody meant to follow Jim, but inside the station he could see people milling around, busy about the business of managing the current crisis. He turned and faced the night, and lingered there. Laying his hands on the wooden railing, he let his head hang down a little. He felt as if he was going to come out of his skin, if he didn’t lay eyes on his boy soon.
“It’s hard, isn’t it?”
The voice issued from the shadowed end of the veranda, and only Jody’s years of training kept him relaxed, and not jerking to attention in reaction. He watched as a man stepped into the block of yellow light cast out from one of the station’s windows. It seemed clear that he wasn’t there in any sort of official capacity.
He was a good bit shorter than Jody, compact, but broad of shoulder. Square-jawed, he had short brown hair, and ice blue eyes. He wore a rawhide thigh-length jacket with a fur collar, and looked much drier than Jody felt, standing there in his own dripping black leather and damp jeans.
Jody recognized him immediately from the photograph in Matt’s home.
Jesse Hawkes.
The cool eyes fixed upon Jody. “It’s not easy, being the one doing the waiting.”
This last wasn’t a question, but Jody answered regardless. “It’s not.”
Jesse’s lips quirked up into a brief smile, there and just as quickly gone again. He stepped forward, head tilted slightly.
“So. You’re the man that’s dating my son.”
Again, not a question, but pushing off the railing, Jody straightened and replied, “Yes, sir. I am.”
Jesse nodded, brow ticking up, and extended his hand to Jody. “Jesse Hawkes.”
They shook hands, an easy movement between them.
“Jody McKinnon.”
Jesse nodded again, and released Jody’s hand. His gaze turned thoughtful. “Wasn’t there a cabin up past the Black Diamond run that belonged to a McKinnon?”
It was Jody’s turn to nod. “It’s my mother’s, actually, or rather, it was. I’ve been told it burned down. She inherited it years ago. We lived there when I was a kid, but none of us have been up this way in ages, well, until now.”
Jesse stepped close to the railing, turned and looked out at the rain swept night. “Why’d you leave?”
Jody stepped in beside Hawkes, not really in the mood to play twenty questions, but grateful to have something to occupy him as he waited for Matt to arrive.
“Parents split. I wanted a ticket outta here, went into the service.”
Folding his hands in front of him, one on top of the other, Jesse turned his head, studying Jody speculatively.
“Marines?”
Jody suppressed a wry smile. He had a feeling Jesse already knew all the answer.
“Yep. Fifteen years.”
“Hm. Me too,” Jesse said, and then added, “You miss it?”
Jody thought about it. “Sometimes. Not often. I’m happy where I am now.”
Jesse’s eyes narrowed slightly, and he nodded without comment. Nothing else was said for a long, uncomfortable moment.
“You worried?”
Guess the getting to know you segment of the conversation is over.
Cutting a look to the man at his side, Jody turned and faced Jesse, squaring up his stance. “Yes. You?”
Jesse stared at him for a long beat, the subtle air of tension between them solidifying a little. Then, after a few seconds, Jesse let out a long breath. He offered Jody a thin smile.
“I’m his father. I’m always worried, though Matt probably wouldn’t believe you if you told him that.”
Feeling himself relax, Jody nodded and echoed Jesse’s own words. “Must be hard.”
Jesse chuckled softly. “It can be.” His expression turned thoughtful. “If you’re going to be spending a lot of time with my son, you’ll find out that Matt has a unique talent of ending up right in the middle of things, and they’re usually dangerous things.”
Jody sensed a question in Jesse’s comment, and he pulled his chin up. “Then I’ll find out. Matt and I are together, and I’m not planning on going anywhere.”
The corner of Jesse’s mouth curled up, just a little, and Jody had the sense that he’d said the right thing, or at least, hadn’t said the wrong thing.
“We’ll see,” Jesse said, then added conversationally, “Matt’s brother, Cody, and I had come down to visit their mother, but I felt like I needed to come by here, check on things.”
Jody took that in, he could certainly sympathize. He didn’t mention his own buzzing, twisting unease that’d plagued him all evening. Together, they looked out at the rainy night. After a while, Jesse hitched his leg up and rested his weight on the railing, facing Jody. He folded his arms over his chest.
“You know, I think it may be about to let up a little.”
Jody looked doubtfully at the dark sky. It was just as dark, and just as wet, as it had been for hours. There didn’t seem to be any cessation to the downpour.
“Maybe,” he replied neutrally.
They waited in companionable silence for a while.
“It won’t get any easier, you know,” Jesse warned quietly, watching Jody steadily.
Turing to face the man, Jody nodded. “I know.”
They shared a look, and Jody had the strange sense that Jesse Hawkes could somehow see into him, right down to his marrow.
A splash of light drew their attention. Two of the station’s Blazer’s were pulling into the parking area, the rack of lights on their roofs flashing. Abruptly, the tension in Jody’s gut eased, dispersing like fog in the sunlight.
“Ah, you see?” Jesse noted, gesturing to the skies as he slipped off the railing.
Jody could see, or rather, he could hear the rain slowing, gentling from a rushing, angry hiss to a milder pattering.
Paramedics converged on the incoming vehicles, and by the beams of headlights they watched as two people were helped onto gurneys, and loaded into the ambulances, though neither of them looked like Matt. A group of people were slowly making their way up the walkway to the station as the ambulances activated their emergency lights, the red and yellow beams stabbing across the short lawn to splash against the station.
Jody searched the group of people through the flashes, waiting as they came closer, as they mounted the steps. Izzy Flowers and Tim Hart emerged from the darkness, looking tired, muddy and disheveled, but relieved. The faces of a few people Jody didn’t recognize filed by, the campers that didn’t need medical attention he assumed, and then Jody saw Matt.
Covered head to toe in mud, and limping heavily even with Robin’s arm around his waist as she aided him up the steps, Matt stumbled to a halt as he looked up, crooked smile on his face. Jody felt a wave of warmth flow through him, like stepping from out of a shade and into the sunlight. He grinned back. Drawn by movement, Matt’s eyes tracked to Jody’s right, and his smile flattened out.
Jesse took a step toward the steps, stopping by Jody’s side.
“Oh, God,” Matt moaned. “The two of you together? I can’t even deal with that right now. Christ.”
“Nice to see you too, son,” Jesse commented dryly.
Jody fought the laugh that threatened to break loose.
Matt gave them a dismissive wave, and allowed Robin to help him the rest of the way up the steps.
“Hi, dad,” he said, then ignored both men as he shuffled by. At his side Robin tossed them an apologetic grin.
Jesse sighed, watching as his son limp away. “Like I said, it won’t be easy.”
Jody sighed too, in complete agreement.
“No sir. But then nothing worth having ever is.”
****Additional Notes****
Just a quick bit, as usual all the location names are places pulled, either from the show, or are actual places in or around Bear Valley...don't try and line things up on a map though, I'm just putting features in where I will...this ain't Lord of the Rings with all the well planned, fancy maps, :-D
I knew Jody'd meet up with another of the crew, but it was Nessa going on about silver fox Russell Todd (and google image search) that made Jim appear this time! But dad popping in was a total surprise, he wasn't supposed to show up until later, but this is how it goes.
Wish I had something clever to add, but am way too sleepy. As always, share your thoughts in the comments as you will. Thanks!
Author: Archet
Pairing: OMC Jody McKinnon/Matt Hawkes
Fandom: High Mountain Rangers
Summary: a story of falling in love, figuring things out and just holding on.
Disclaimer: I did not create the High Mountain Ranger character/s, only this fic and the Original Male Character, Jody McKinnon, and any other original characters in supporting roles. No copyright infringement is intended.
Notes: this fic is set in 1989, approximately a year and a half after the events of the final episode of High Mountain Rangers. There will be no acknowledgment of the events of the spin-off show Jesse Hawkes.
Note: this fic takes place a little over four months after Bad Luck, Bad Guys and High Mountain Rangers and is a sequel to that fic, so reading that first is recommended.
Additional: this fic will depict same sex relationships. If this ain’t your thing, venture no further.
Warnings this chapter: none
Summary this chapter: A rain filled night brings worry, and unexpected meetings.
****Additional notes at end of chapter****
~*~
Chapter 10: A Dark and Rainy Night
Jody bolted upright in bed, heart hammering. He stilled, listening, alert for the creak of a floorboard, or the rasp of an indrawn breath, but heard only the steady strumming of the rain on the roof. He was alone, and it was somewhere in the middle of the night.
Rubbing the back of his neck Jody drew in a calming breath, exhaled it, and shook his head. His nerves were buzzing, an angry bee hum setting his teeth on edge. He hadn’t slept particularly well since he’d left Matt’s bed three days prior, and since then he’d chalked it up to being in an unfamiliar place, an unfamiliar bed. His newly rented cabin was only a couple minutes’ drive from Matt’s place, a lucky find, and when the rental company had offered it, Jody had snapped it up without hesitation.
He’d booked the two-bedroom, two-bath cabin for three months, the longest period of time the rental company would allow at one time. He didn’t really care for the cabin itself, though. It was too new, too trendy with a skylight in the kitchen and a television in each bedroom. It was too much space for what he needed, and he much preferred Matt’s cozy, sunlit, rustic little cabin tucked away in its stand of evergreens and mountain laurels.
Rubbing a hand over his face, Jody looked to the window next to his bed. It was a dark, lightless night, and the blackness seemed to press against the window panes. The skies were hidden behind heavy cloud cover that had lain over the Sierras for days, and that had dumped a wealth of precipitation on Bear Valley and the surrounding Tahoe area. Lying back down with a sigh, Jody punched his pillow, turned onto his side, and listened to the rain coming down.
It’d been raining for three days straight.
It’d been three days since his and Matt’s marathon date had finally concluded, where they’d never actually had gone out, but stayed, blissfully, holed up in Matt’s cabin. It’d been three days since he’d seen his boy, since he’d touched him, tasted him, and Jody was in a mood. Matt had pulled a twenty-four hour shift at the station, but a spat of emergencies resulting from the weather had necessitated him staying on. The entire region was under flash flood warnings.
Blinking into the darkness, Jody’s gaze turned inward, and he took himself back to Matt’s cabin, to the morning where he’d stood with Matt on his back porch, a steaming cup of coffee in one hand as Matt had leaned against his side with one of his own. The view from there had been a beautiful discovery, and upon first seeing it, had been left Jody speechless for a time. A break in the tree line had afforded a generous view straight down the side of the mountain, and into the valley below, a sweeping vista dazzling in the golden morning sunlight. The shimmer of Lake Tahoe had lain as an inviting blue glitter in the far distance.
Matt had eagerly pointed out some of his favorite landmarks. There was the topmost line of Crow Creek Canyon, its rugged crest cropping up through the trees, and the high cliffs Matt called the Boulders. He’d traced out for Jody the sloping lines of the thickly wooded Grizzly Bowl, and the much steeper Snow Valley, where Matt’s favorite ski run, the Spy Glass, could be found. Backing it all in the golden haze of morning were the varied peaks of the Sierra Nevada Mountains thrusting up against the smooth, blue sky, and Matt’s proud smile at sharing his home had been endlessly charming.
Now, lying in bed alone, Jody considered that this was going to be a very real aspect of his and Matt’s relationship, the waiting. Of course, he’d his own affairs to deal with, and he’d spent most of the last three days choosing a place to live and getting moved in. The moving had been easy; he didn’t have anything with him but his duffel, packed with a few clothes. Anything else he owned was boxed up at his sister’s place, and he’d never been one to collect much in the way of material things.
Having settled on the rental, his next task had been shopping to stock it, getting all the needed groceries and household items, and so he’d been fairly occupied over the last couple of sodden days. Eventually, though, he’d have to find something to do other than wait around for Matt to have free time. There was a wealth of opportunities in the bustling Bear Valley community, or even the nearby South Lake Tahoe District, but the idea of working for someone, or being under some else’s direct authority again, honestly didn’t sit well.
Anyway, Jody had the luxury of taking his time. He’d poured most of his military pay over the last several years into several diversified investments that had worked out well for his portfolio. He didn’t have to worry overmuch about money, at least for the time being, as long as he didn’t go crazy. He considered his new Silverado a splurge, but a practical one.
Rubbing absently at his breastbone, at the tightness settled there, Jody wished that Bear Valley had an all-night gym. He’d love to work off some of the discordant energy in his body at a weight machine. Rolling back over, he stretched out, closed his eyes and concentrated on his breathing. He’d used the calming exercise countless times to get to sleep, but after a minute or two, gave up. It wasn’t going to work, not with the tense, buzzing tension harassing him.
Sighing, Jody pushed back the sheets and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. He stood, stretched, and headed to the bathroom adjoining the master bedroom. After taking a piss and washing his hands, he wandered into the kitchen. He frowned up at the skylight, at the rain beating against the laminated glass. It was pelting down even harder now, than when he’d climbed into bed. Pulling open the refrigerator, blinking against the glare of the inside light, he leaned an arm against the door and considered his options.
He was tempted to go down to the station, see how things were going, but all nonemergency vehicles had been ordered to stay off the roadways. Some of the rougher, less maintained mountain roads had sections washed out, and though the town of Bear Valley had so far escaped any real flooding, the various mountain streams winding near and around many of its main roads had transformed into swollen, swiftly moving white water. Encouragingly, according to the weather channel, the rain was supposed to slack off by morning, and the system was predicted to clear out the following day.
Glancing at the wall clock over the kitchen door, Jody was surprised to see that it was only half past eleven. He’d spoken to Matt earlier in the night, around five, and things on his end had been hectic, but not too bad. The rangers had received a few calls about some stranded hikers, but they’d had been able to pick them up with the chopper, taking advantage of a momentary break in the weather, before the visibility had dropped. Jody didn’t think they’d attempt to fly again tonight, no matter what the emergency, and he hoped that Matt and his crew could stay tucked away in the safety at the station until morning.
Reaching into the fridge, Jody pulled out a carton of milk, unfolded its spout, and was about to lift it to his lips when a knock at the front door stalled him.
The hell?
Sitting the carton back on the shelf, Jody shut the refrigerator and headed through the kitchen and the connected living room. He paused before the front door, unlocking it and flipping on the outside light. Dressed in only his boxers, Jody paused, but didn’t feel like going all the way back to the bedroom to don a robe, so with a shrug he pulled open the door and looked out.
A man stood on covered front stoop, just off the welcome mat. At the sound of the door opening, he turned to face Jody. The visitor stood wore a blue hooded poncho that reached past his knees. He pushed back the poncho’s hood revealing a handsome face, on the young side, probably in his mid-twenties. Despite his hood, his dark hair lay plastered against his skull, rainwater dripping from the ends. His bright blue eyes fixed on Jody as he nodded in greeting. He had a well defined jaw line, sharp cheekbones and full lips, a nice looking kid whose expression was entirely too serious for Jody’s liking.
“Jody?” As he spoke the poncho the kid wore parted down the front to reveal a familiar pair of charcoal grey pants, and a red, long sleeved shirt. Matt had a uniform just like it. Jody remembered it well.
This was one of Matt’s rangers, Jody realized, and he struggled to place the guy’s name.
“Yes?” Jody answered, and the buzzing inside him seemed to strengthen, a vibration of anxious energy thrumming in him as loudly as the rain hissing against the roof.
“I’m Jim Cutler. I work with Matt. Sorry to interrupt your night. We tried calling, but it wouldn’t go through. Some of the lines are probably out someplace.”
“Anything wrong?”
Jody gripped the door knob tightly. He chided himself; he should’ve thought to keep a check on the phones. Jim’s mouth flattened out, and Jody gritted his teeth.
“I was patrolling nearby, and since we couldn’t get through to you on the phone, thought I’d stop by.”
“Come on in,” Jody said, not bothering to ask how Jim knew where he lived. Pulling the door open fully, he stepped back.
Jim shook his head, a brow rising at the state of Jody’s undress.
“Thanks, but I don’t want to get water all over your floor.” He took a breath. “Look, let me fill you in. We got a call a couple hours ago that some campers coming down from Silver Valley got into some trouble. You know where Silver Valley is?”
Jody nodded. Silver Valley had long been a popular campground. Jody had spent time there himself as a teen, camping out with friends anytime he’d needed to get out of the house and away from his bickering parents. Jim shifted his weight from one foot to the other, and Jody felt the buzzing inside him intensify.
“I guess they’d stuck it out as long as they could at the campground, and decided it was time to pack it in. They tried coming down by Eagle Gulch, and drove right off into a washout. Matt took a team out there to bring them in.”
Jim paused, and Jody focused, getting a grip on the overwhelming urge to shake the rest of the information out of the kid.
“We got a report that they’d gotten everyone out of the vehicle and back up on the roadway, except one guy. Matt was in the middle of extracting him, when the whole hillside gave way. Matt managed to haul them far enough clear that they weren’t carried away in the slide, but they both got smacked around pretty good.”
Jody went cold, and the discordant note that had clamored inside him all night seemed to reach a crescendo, drowning out Jim’s voice for a moment until he got hold of himself.
“Is everyone okay? Is Matt--” He bit off the question.
Jim’s expression remained calm, focused, and Jody recognized good training when he saw it.
“They’re on their way back down now. Radio reception has been for shit, but I can tell you they’re okay, but Matt is going to need to be checked out at the hospital tonight. He may have a concussion.”
Jody leaned a hand against the doorframe. He exhaled, and let the warning hum inside him sink down into the pit of his stomach.
“Okay,” he managed, suddenly feeling weird standing in the doorway of his rented cabin in nothing but his underwear.
“We thought you’d like to know,” Jim said in a careful tone that told Jody his relief was written large across his face.
Jody nodded, catching Jim’s gaze. “Thanks, man. I really appreciate it.”
Jim took a step back, glanced over his shoulder to his truck parked a short distance away, the red and blue lights on its roof a startling, strobing spangle of brilliance in the rain soaked darkness.
“Look, you shouldn’t be out driving around in this, but you’re welcome to come back to the station with me. I’m headed back in now.”
Jody nodded briskly, already taking a step back from the door. “I absolutely would. Give me a couple minutes to get dressed.”
It took Jody less than a couple minutes to pull on a sweater and jeans and stuff his feet into his boots. He grabbed his wallet, keys and leather jacket on the way out the door. Jim hovered at the top of the short set of steps leading down to the sodden lawn, eager to be off but giving Jody time to lock up. They stepped off the stoop together, going down the steps and jogging through standing water to Jim’s waiting vehicle.
Pulling open the truck’s door, Jody climbed in and slammed it shut, wiping rainwater from his face as Jim got settled behind the wheel. They both snapped their seatbelts closed, and Jim carefully backed out of the driveway and maneuvered them out onto the paved road, which looked more like a sheet of water than an actual roadway in the Chevy’s headlight beams.
It was slow going, and with Jim’s attention fixed upon the road in front of them, Jody’s thoughts went to Matt. He wondered what shape he was in as he led his group down the mountain in the deluge. Jody rested his hands on his knees and curled his fingers into the wet denim.
“Matt’s pretty stubborn, you know,” Jim said into the silence. From his tone, for an instant, Jody wasn’t certain if he was being asked his opinion, or if Jim was just stating his own.
“Is he?” Jody replied, pulling his focus out of distracted, dark imaginings of blonde hair streaked with mud and blood.
“Oh, yeah,” Jim answered. He laughed shortly. “You mean you didn’t already know?”
Jody glanced aside at the ranger, unsure if whether or not he should feel irritated.
“Well, he’s been pretty easy to get along with from what I’ve seen.”
Jim may have choked slightly, or coughed, it was hard to tell with the rain drumming against the roof of the truck. It was a few moments before he spoke again.
“Hey, I just meant he’s going to put off going to the hospital until the last conceivable moment. With all this going on, he’s going to want to stick around as long as he’s able.”
Jody shrugged. “He’ll go.”
Glancing at Jody, Jim shook his head. “Oh, he’ll go, he’ll just be as annoying as possible.”
“I think I can handle it,” Jody replied.
Jim’s brow ticked up. “If you say so.”
Content to let the conversation lull, Jody stared out the rain swept windshield. The wipers were on high speed, swinging back and forth in a valiant attempt to keep the glass clear. The relatively short drive to the station felt inordinately long.
“Look, I really appreciate you coming out. I know you didn’t have to do that,” Jody offered at length, feeling like it needed to be said.
At the wheel, Jim glanced aside, shrugged, and turned his attention back to the road. “Like I said, I was in the area.”
Neither man spoke again until Jim pulled them into the station’s parking area.
The interior of the station was ablaze with light, and humming with activity. Several of the rangers’ vehicles were parked out front, along with a couple Bear Valley PD cop cars, and two ambulances. Jody’s eyes fixed upon the ambulances, the heavy buzz in his belly flaring up again.
“We’re the staging area for the local PD,” Jim explained as he shut off the truck and pulled up his poncho’s hood. “We’re not likely to flood here, so we’re serving as a nexus for Bear Valley and South Lake Tahoe, just helping coordinate things.”
Jody nodded, feeling a little better at knowing that all the activity was a planned thing, and not assembled just in anticipation of Matt and his team’s arrival. In his estimation, Jim hadn’t seemed to be holding back any information about Matt’s injuries, but it wouldn’t be out of the question. Jody wouldn’t be satisfied until he saw Matt with his own eyes.
They both slid out of the Blazer and raced to the station. Jody was mostly soaked by the time they pounded up the front steps to the double door entrance. Jim gave him a nod as he shucked off his poncho, throwing it over the wooden railing of the veranda that ran down the length of the building. With a quick nod, Jim turned and disappeared through the double doors.
Jody meant to follow Jim, but inside the station he could see people milling around, busy about the business of managing the current crisis. He turned and faced the night, and lingered there. Laying his hands on the wooden railing, he let his head hang down a little. He felt as if he was going to come out of his skin, if he didn’t lay eyes on his boy soon.
“It’s hard, isn’t it?”
The voice issued from the shadowed end of the veranda, and only Jody’s years of training kept him relaxed, and not jerking to attention in reaction. He watched as a man stepped into the block of yellow light cast out from one of the station’s windows. It seemed clear that he wasn’t there in any sort of official capacity.
He was a good bit shorter than Jody, compact, but broad of shoulder. Square-jawed, he had short brown hair, and ice blue eyes. He wore a rawhide thigh-length jacket with a fur collar, and looked much drier than Jody felt, standing there in his own dripping black leather and damp jeans.
Jody recognized him immediately from the photograph in Matt’s home.
Jesse Hawkes.
The cool eyes fixed upon Jody. “It’s not easy, being the one doing the waiting.”
This last wasn’t a question, but Jody answered regardless. “It’s not.”
Jesse’s lips quirked up into a brief smile, there and just as quickly gone again. He stepped forward, head tilted slightly.
“So. You’re the man that’s dating my son.”
Again, not a question, but pushing off the railing, Jody straightened and replied, “Yes, sir. I am.”
Jesse nodded, brow ticking up, and extended his hand to Jody. “Jesse Hawkes.”
They shook hands, an easy movement between them.
“Jody McKinnon.”
Jesse nodded again, and released Jody’s hand. His gaze turned thoughtful. “Wasn’t there a cabin up past the Black Diamond run that belonged to a McKinnon?”
It was Jody’s turn to nod. “It’s my mother’s, actually, or rather, it was. I’ve been told it burned down. She inherited it years ago. We lived there when I was a kid, but none of us have been up this way in ages, well, until now.”
Jesse stepped close to the railing, turned and looked out at the rain swept night. “Why’d you leave?”
Jody stepped in beside Hawkes, not really in the mood to play twenty questions, but grateful to have something to occupy him as he waited for Matt to arrive.
“Parents split. I wanted a ticket outta here, went into the service.”
Folding his hands in front of him, one on top of the other, Jesse turned his head, studying Jody speculatively.
“Marines?”
Jody suppressed a wry smile. He had a feeling Jesse already knew all the answer.
“Yep. Fifteen years.”
“Hm. Me too,” Jesse said, and then added, “You miss it?”
Jody thought about it. “Sometimes. Not often. I’m happy where I am now.”
Jesse’s eyes narrowed slightly, and he nodded without comment. Nothing else was said for a long, uncomfortable moment.
“You worried?”
Guess the getting to know you segment of the conversation is over.
Cutting a look to the man at his side, Jody turned and faced Jesse, squaring up his stance. “Yes. You?”
Jesse stared at him for a long beat, the subtle air of tension between them solidifying a little. Then, after a few seconds, Jesse let out a long breath. He offered Jody a thin smile.
“I’m his father. I’m always worried, though Matt probably wouldn’t believe you if you told him that.”
Feeling himself relax, Jody nodded and echoed Jesse’s own words. “Must be hard.”
Jesse chuckled softly. “It can be.” His expression turned thoughtful. “If you’re going to be spending a lot of time with my son, you’ll find out that Matt has a unique talent of ending up right in the middle of things, and they’re usually dangerous things.”
Jody sensed a question in Jesse’s comment, and he pulled his chin up. “Then I’ll find out. Matt and I are together, and I’m not planning on going anywhere.”
The corner of Jesse’s mouth curled up, just a little, and Jody had the sense that he’d said the right thing, or at least, hadn’t said the wrong thing.
“We’ll see,” Jesse said, then added conversationally, “Matt’s brother, Cody, and I had come down to visit their mother, but I felt like I needed to come by here, check on things.”
Jody took that in, he could certainly sympathize. He didn’t mention his own buzzing, twisting unease that’d plagued him all evening. Together, they looked out at the rainy night. After a while, Jesse hitched his leg up and rested his weight on the railing, facing Jody. He folded his arms over his chest.
“You know, I think it may be about to let up a little.”
Jody looked doubtfully at the dark sky. It was just as dark, and just as wet, as it had been for hours. There didn’t seem to be any cessation to the downpour.
“Maybe,” he replied neutrally.
They waited in companionable silence for a while.
“It won’t get any easier, you know,” Jesse warned quietly, watching Jody steadily.
Turing to face the man, Jody nodded. “I know.”
They shared a look, and Jody had the strange sense that Jesse Hawkes could somehow see into him, right down to his marrow.
A splash of light drew their attention. Two of the station’s Blazer’s were pulling into the parking area, the rack of lights on their roofs flashing. Abruptly, the tension in Jody’s gut eased, dispersing like fog in the sunlight.
“Ah, you see?” Jesse noted, gesturing to the skies as he slipped off the railing.
Jody could see, or rather, he could hear the rain slowing, gentling from a rushing, angry hiss to a milder pattering.
Paramedics converged on the incoming vehicles, and by the beams of headlights they watched as two people were helped onto gurneys, and loaded into the ambulances, though neither of them looked like Matt. A group of people were slowly making their way up the walkway to the station as the ambulances activated their emergency lights, the red and yellow beams stabbing across the short lawn to splash against the station.
Jody searched the group of people through the flashes, waiting as they came closer, as they mounted the steps. Izzy Flowers and Tim Hart emerged from the darkness, looking tired, muddy and disheveled, but relieved. The faces of a few people Jody didn’t recognize filed by, the campers that didn’t need medical attention he assumed, and then Jody saw Matt.
Covered head to toe in mud, and limping heavily even with Robin’s arm around his waist as she aided him up the steps, Matt stumbled to a halt as he looked up, crooked smile on his face. Jody felt a wave of warmth flow through him, like stepping from out of a shade and into the sunlight. He grinned back. Drawn by movement, Matt’s eyes tracked to Jody’s right, and his smile flattened out.
Jesse took a step toward the steps, stopping by Jody’s side.
“Oh, God,” Matt moaned. “The two of you together? I can’t even deal with that right now. Christ.”
“Nice to see you too, son,” Jesse commented dryly.
Jody fought the laugh that threatened to break loose.
Matt gave them a dismissive wave, and allowed Robin to help him the rest of the way up the steps.
“Hi, dad,” he said, then ignored both men as he shuffled by. At his side Robin tossed them an apologetic grin.
Jesse sighed, watching as his son limp away. “Like I said, it won’t be easy.”
Jody sighed too, in complete agreement.
“No sir. But then nothing worth having ever is.”
****Additional Notes****
Just a quick bit, as usual all the location names are places pulled, either from the show, or are actual places in or around Bear Valley...don't try and line things up on a map though, I'm just putting features in where I will...this ain't Lord of the Rings with all the well planned, fancy maps, :-D
I knew Jody'd meet up with another of the crew, but it was Nessa going on about silver fox Russell Todd (and google image search) that made Jim appear this time! But dad popping in was a total surprise, he wasn't supposed to show up until later, but this is how it goes.
Wish I had something clever to add, but am way too sleepy. As always, share your thoughts in the comments as you will. Thanks!
